Photography Collection

Paolo Pellegrin, April 2, 2005. Vatican City, Rome Italy

Multi-award winning photojournalist Paolo Pellegrin will give Brisbane (Australia) audiences a very intimate glimpse of life and death with a collection of emotive images in his exhibition As I Was Dying, presented at Brisbane Powerhouse until 24 August. Paolo Pellegrin has documented many of the world’s most dangerous places, from Darfur to Lebanon, and Haiti to Iraq. As I Was Dying captures humanity amidst the despair and suffering of war. Nine years in the making, the exhibition documents the nameless faces and victims behind some of the greatest upheavals of recent times, from the violently dispersed demonstration by Turkish Kurds in 1998 to the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. Swept up in events beyond their control, the images record the desperation of the displaced and the terror of those who witness the destruction of their homes and the deaths of their loved ones.This haunting exhibition communicates the fragile space between life and death in a way that goes beyond words and culture and differences.
Possessing an almost poetic quality, many of Paolo Pellegrin’s images are blurred, appearing almost unfinished, and all are in black and white which he believes works on a more symbolic level giving the pictures greater meaning. Where other photographers would run or shy away, Pellegrin has the confidence to keep shooting, thriving on the ‘extreme’ territory that provides a back drop for his subjects. “After Kosovo in 1999 my interest in humanity became more about seeing it in extraordinary conditions,” says Pellegrin. “Where you see the worst of man, but also the best of man – the courage, the desire to live.” Pellegrin developed a passion for exposing social injustice and suffering while studying architecture in his native Rome, when he took a course in social anthropology. So affected was he by what he learnt, he decided to quit architecture. This life changing decision lead him to enjoy a prestigious career, winning eight World Press Photo Awards, numerous Photographer of the Year Awards and a Robert Capa Gold Medal Award among many others. Paolo Pellegrin is a contract photographer for Newsweek Magazine and a member of Magnum Photos.